“Out of our control” — Dell is about to hike PC prices by up to 30% for commercial customers due to the RAM shortage, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it

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Late 2025 has seen a new challenge emerge in the tech industry. The rapid expansion of AI data centers globally has led to a shortage of key memory types, specifically DRAM and NAND flash memory.

DRAM shortages are already causing the price of RAM for computers to jump significantly, and now we can expect to see a similar price increase for SSD storage as well.

Dell recently informed its employees in a memo that prices for its business and enterprise technology will increase starting December 17th. This is a result of rising costs for components like RAM and storage, according to Business Insider.

As a PC enthusiast, it’s really frustrating to see how expensive RAM has become lately! Building a new PC, or even upgrading, feels almost impossible with these prices. I’ve been looking for ways to get around the inflated costs while doing my holiday shopping, and I’m sharing what I’ve found to help others like me.

Expect to pay between $130 and $230 more for business PCs – like Dell’s Pro and Pro Max models – if you want 32GB of RAM. Upgrading to 128GB of RAM could add $520 to $765 to the price. A 1TB solid-state drive (SSD) will likely increase the cost of your computer or laptop by $55 to $135.

A Dell sales employee told Business Insider that prices are going up by 10% to 30%, depending on the agreement. The employee explained that there’s currently no way to avoid the increase, meaning customers will have to pay more for Dell products.

Laptops and PCs aren’t the only Dell products affected by AI shortages

As a tech fan, I’ve been following Dell, and it’s fascinating to see how much of their business comes from selling computers to companies, not directly to people like me. Actually, about 85% of their yearly income is from these commercial sales! It’s not just PCs either – they’re selling monitors and powerful GPUs to businesses too, and it looks like prices for those are about to shift, meaning we might see some changes soon.

Our internal pricing indicates that the Dell Pro 55 Plus 4K display will increase in price by $150, from its current price of $1,349.99. AI laptops with the NVIDIA RTX PRO 500 GPU (6GB VRAM) will see a $66 price increase, while the version with the 24GB GPU will be $530 more expensive.

Valve’s Steam Machine gaming PC could face problems if RAM prices continue to rise. It’s questionable whether gamers should be expected to pay extra costs driven by the increasing demands of artificial intelligence companies.

A recent internal memo from Dell, seen by BI, instructed sales teams on November 25th to act quickly before price increases took effect. They were encouraged to finalize current deals and secure longer-term agreements. However, Dell clarified that placing an order now for future delivery wouldn’t guarantee the current price.

Dell is worried that limited supplies of DRAM and NAND memory chips might make customers reconsider their purchases. While Dell is trying to secure contracts to guarantee supply, one sales employee told Business Insider that the issue feels impossible to fix on their own.

The ongoing issues with DRAM and NAND chip prices don’t seem to be resolving anytime soon, and some believe the situation could last until 2028 or beyond. Since these chips are essential for so many devices, almost all technology will likely be impacted.

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2025-12-15 18:10